Lagos Government to promote use of local building materials

The Lagos State Government says it plans to develop and encourage production of indigenous building materials to enhance housing delivery in the state.

Mr Moses Ogunleye, the Vice Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Housing, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

Ogunleye said that the state would hold Lagos Housing Fair from April 25 to April 30 at the Radio Lagos/Eko FM to pursue the new agenda.

He said there was the need to expand the scope and usage of local materials in the building industry by encouraging the manufacturers to key into the agenda.

According to him, there is also the need to encourage more local content, particularly now that the emphasis of government is on diversification.

“Specifically, we intend to direct the attention of the nation to the values or benefits in the production, application and promotion of indigenous materials of all types.

“The main focus of the fair, among others, is how the various resources like soils, timbers and array of other minerals that are available in the country can become materials for housing development,” he said.

According to Ogunleye, there is virtually no component used in the construction of a building that cannot be sourced within Nigeria.

He said that there had been researches conducted on the use of indigenous materials by various institutions, including universities and polytechnics.

“But to what extent have these research outputs been applied in Nigeria,” he asked.

According to him, the National Housing Policy’s core goal is on how to hasten the development of housing using appropriate basic building materials from within.

“This objective needs to be pursued vigorously because at this stage of Nigeria’s development, I believe the country should be a global leader in the export of various types of building materials.”

Ogunleye said that government would encourage the growth of existing industries producing local building materials like bricks, clay, concrete products, glass, among others. (NAN)